Drowning on life
by writingwillow
Summary: A regular dimension fic, SanjixOC rated for later chapters. Up for adoption
1. Chapter 1

A whole new world

Disclaimer: I do not own One piece.

**Drowning on life?**

The night was cold, it was nearing midnight and I still couldn't find my way out of the cave, damn my curiosity, why couldn't I just pass by things like this. I mean, did I really need to know what was down every creepy passage way? I pulled my bag back up to my shoulder as I mentally berated myself for, once again, letting my overactive imagination run away with my curiosity and putting myself in another dangerous situation that I really wasn't sure I even wanted out of.

By now they were probably calling me a run away, which wasn't to far fetched, I had tried to jump a train to live like a twenties style rambler only last week. Well, how else were I supposed to find someone to help me hitchhike across the universe, people just couldn't see the possibilities I could. So I was a little nuts, all the interesting people were.

I felt the wind across my face as I reached an end to the tunnel I was exploring, it opened into pure space, the ground was about twenty feet below me and I couldn't even catch one of the trees to climb down, well, so much for that tunnel. I stepped out onto the tiny ledge on the side of the cliff I had just crawled out of and looked down. It was a long way well at least I knew where this hole led.

I turned cautiously to slip back into the cave and slipped on a small stone on the ledge and jolted forward, my face crashing into the side of the cliff and falling backwards into pure nothingness. All I had time to think was _'Ah shit!'_ before I crashed into the water sputtering and squinting into the sun in disbelief.

"Hey look," I heard a familiar sounding voice call out as if the body attached to it were trying not to laugh, "You think she was on the ship when it fell?"

I looked up at him and immediately began to sink, having stopped swimming to stare in confusion since I could have sworn I was looking up to my favorite cartoon pirate captain and his idealistic crew. Even curiosity couldn't help me with this one. Almost instantly the whole crew was staring down at me in confusion.

"Hey don't just stand there staring at her," The red headed girl who I recognized as Nami yelled at the guys who were staring down at me over the railing of the ship. "Help her up."

Immediately a rope was thrown over the side and I was pulled onto the ship.

Everyone was looking down at me as I collapsed on the deck staring at them with wide disbelieving eyes. I quickly looked around the deck trying to convince myself that this was not the Merry Go and that was not Monkey D. Luffy standing there looking at me in confusion and excitement. It wasn't Nami that was standing behind me looking generally irritable while the small man who was nervously fussing over you was not half reindeer and definitely not Chopper the doctor.

"HELLO I'M USOP THE GREAT FEARSOME CAPITAN OFF THIS SHIP" said a wiry all together pathetic looking man with a long nose. I looked at the ship's marksman with a vaguely curious expression.

"You look more like Pinocchio." I dead panned. It was at that moment that my bag decided to follow me out of the sky and landed dead on Usop's head, a few books spilling out, as well as my pencil case and a few different kinds of mushrooms.

For a moment everyone just looked at him dumbfounded until Luffy started laughing. I started looking around again and noticed Zolo sitting on another part of the deck, sleeping. My certainty that this was some misunderstanding was quickly depleting as Chopper looked over me and bandaged my scraped hands and banged head from where I had fallen off the cliff.

Still looking around I saw Robin watching me with amused disinterest and Sanji knelt next to me with Chopper with a look of complete adoration as they continued to fuss over my rather minor injuries.

"W-what happened to y-you?" Chopper asked me, catching my attention.

"I fell off the cliff into the forest." I said simply. Sanji grinned. My answer seemed to catch the interest of Robin as she was the next to comment.

"What do you mean into a forest, there's no land for miles. Where exactly did you fall from?" she asked politely. I tilted my head slightly, trying to think. I didn't really know where I had been when I was still there.

"I was in some caves and one of them came out into the side of the cliff, I saw the forest about twenty feet down and I went to go back in when I slipped off the cliff over the forest and the next thing I know I hit the water." I explained in a bored tone. I looked up at her and then over to Sanji. "Excuse me but, you all wouldn't happen to be the straw hat pirates, would you?" I asked with an air of skepticism. Luffy beamed.

"You've heard of us?!" he asked happily.

I looked at him for a moment before I went over to the unconscious form of Usop and picked through my books, putting everything I looked at back in my bag until I came across what I was looking for. Sanji had come to help me so I just handed him the small book. He looked at me in surprise for a second before taking the book and looking at the cover.

A/N Okay, I'll leave it there for chapter one. I'm not sure where this is in the storyline, somewhere around Skypeia probably, maybe I'll have them take her along with them.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a picture of Nami, Luffy and Zolo on the deck of a ship, all of them seemed very happy and Zolo had a bottle of what Sanji assumed to be rum

**Disclaimer: I do not own One piece.**

It was a picture of Nami, Luffy and Zolo on the deck of a ship, all of them seemed very happy and Zolo had a bottle of what Sanji assumed to be rum. The picture was set over what looked like a light tan map background and written in large letters across the top was 'One Piece' the subtitle read 'romance dawn'. The bottom indicated that this was the first in a series and said that the author and artist who had written it was named Eiichiro Oda.

He looked back at me with shock written on his face. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn't think of anything to say and closed it again.

Curiosity overtook Luffy seeing Sanji's reaction to the book so he immediately went over and snatched it away from him. When he looked down at the cover of the book he grinned widely and exclaimed;

"COOL!! I'm a cartoon." I smiled slightly at his reaction. Immediately everyone converged trying to snatch the book for themselves to inspect it. No one could believe what they were seeing.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Nami screamed when she ripped the book away from Zolo.

"A book?" I said, certain that wasn't what she was asking.

"I KNOW IT'S A BOOK!" she yelled at me. By this time Robin had the book, and seemed to be reading it.

"Actually, from what I've seen it would seem that Luffy is right on this one. Your adventures seem to have been made into a cartoon. Although I'm not sure what exactly this means." She said. Strangely enough most of the crew seemed to have settled down to try to figure everything out.

"What do you mean 'your adventures' you're with us too ya know!" Nami bit off glaring at Robin slightly.

"Yes but I don't seem to be in this issue, it's more or less just the three of you." Robin explained simply. It was Chopper who seemed to put this together with what had been said earlier.

"Y-you said before that when you fell you were over a forest?" He asked nervously. I smiled at him and nodded.

Robin, always the calmest of the crew seemed to catch on and follow Chopper's line of thought.

"It's strange then that you should fall into the ocean. Do things like that happen often where you come from?" She asked, better to get it from the girl herself.

"Not really," I answered scratching my head. "Then again I could probably explain it through scientific theory, I probably just fell through a dimensional rift caused by god knows what. Then again in regards to its overwhelming improbability that may not really be the best explanation, but I was never really much for science anyway."

"So what… You're from another world?" Nami asked, having finally calmed down. I just shrugged.

"That's my guess. Though, as far as I know, there's no way to prove it one way or another.

**Okay, I'm just going to leave the story there for now. Ideas and comments are always appreciated, as well as requests.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own One piece**

Surprisingly it didn't take long for the crew to accept the girl from the sky. They had even asked her to join the crew when they learned that she had studied a good deal about plants, as well as algae and fungi (they asked about the mushrooms). Chopper and Sanji figured she could actually be very useful if they found anything they weren't sure of.

No one seemed to mention the book. She just assumed they would prefer not to think about any of it as they went ahead with what they were doing.

Apparently she wasn't the first thing they had seen fall from nowhere. They had also seen a ship fall, and from that they had decided to look for some mysterious island in the sky that was supposed to be a myth. That was what they were doing now.

"Diane!" Sanji called happily as he noticed her coming out onto the deck. "dinner's nearly ready!"

She smiled back at him as she entered the galley. While eventful, it did seem a bit uncomfortable for Diane. She supposed though that they were still a little confused at her small revelation, so she didn't push anything. Hell, she was still a little confused about everything herself.

Once dinner was finished she helped Sanji with the dishes, while somewhat surprised by the offer, he accepted quickly as it gave him a chance to get to know the new girl a bit, and maybe flirt. While they talked, he rinsed and dried while she washed.

"So, Diane, why did you study plants?" he started, nearly grimacing at himself for how lame he must have sounded. She shrugged.

"I've just always been like that. Growing up I would always pick up little leaves and mushrooms to find out what they were," She said, beginning to grin at the memory. "Then of course I would try to make something out of it, I can't remember how many fairy houses I built out of stuff like that."

"Fairy houses?" He asked turning back to her to get another dish.

"Little houses built out of anything you find in the woods. The only rule is that you can't use anything man made when you build them. I used to build them everywhere with the stuff I would pick up."

"So you just build little houses out of twigs and tree bark and a fairy is supposed to live in it?" He asked grinning at her.

"More or less, though I never saw one myself, though it probably didn't help that I lived in a city."

"No, I guess they wouldn't be too interested in living there." He said chuckling at her. It wasn't long before they were done and she disappeared again.

They were still a few days away from land and it didn't take Diane long to explore the ship. Unfortunately for Diane, being on a ship all day didn't sit with her curious nature, or small attention span. She very quickly became bored on the ship. When she wasn't talking to Robin or Sanji she would wander around the ship. By her third day on board she had taken to pacing around the deck, to the amusement of most of the crew, and the annoyance of Zolo who was constantly trying to sleep.

Most of the day she paced in circles around the ship, singing to herself any random song that popped into her head. Of course this thrilled Luffy since the ship finally had a singer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own One piece or the song Dear god or Weird Al's The night Santa went crazy.**

About the fifth day since Diane's arrival the crew reached land. While mildly curious, Diane was asked to stay on the ship for the time while Luffy, Zolo and Nami went ashore to ask about Skypia.

On board the Merry Go she was close to going nuts, pacing around the ship. She was singing again, so no one bothered her, it was entertaining after all, she knew some of the strangest songs they had ever heard, and most of them they had never heard before. With Robin in her room, Chopper and Sanji were leaning against one of the rails watching her.

What made it the most interesting was she wasn't exactly pacing, but she wasn't exactly dancing either, she would just walk in circles, and every once in a while she would twist or twirl, almost dancing, and almost pacing at the same time, to whatever the beat of the music was that only played in her head.

"_Dear god,_

_Hope you got the letter,_

_And I pray you can make it better down here._

_I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer,_

_But all the people that you made in your image,_

_See them starving on their feet,_

_Cause they don't get enough to eat_

_From god,_

_I can't believe in you._

_Dear god,_

_Sorry to disturb you,_

_But I feel that I should be heard loud and clear._

_We all need a big reduction in the amount of tears,_

_And all the people that you made in your image,_

_See them fighting in the street,_

_Cause they can't make opinions meet,_

_About god,_

_I can't believe in you._

_Did you make disease, and the diamond blue?_

_Did you make mankind after we made you?_

_And the devil too!_

_Dear god,_

_Don't know if you noticed,_

_But your name is on a lot of quotes in this book._

_Us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look,_

_And all the people that you made in your image,_

_Still belieing that junk is true._

_Well I know it ain't and so do you,_

_Dear god,_

_I can't believe in,_

_I don't believe in,_

_I won't believe in heaven and hell._

_No saints, no sinners,_

_No devil as well._

_No pearly gates, no thorny crown._

_You're always letting us humans down._

_The wars you bring, the babes you drown._

_Those lost at sea and never found,_

_And it's the same the whole world round._

_The hurt I see helps to compound,_

_That the father, son and holy ghost,_

_Is just somebody's unholy hoax,_

_And if you're up there you'll perceive,_

_That my hearts here upon my sleeve._

_If there's one thing I don't believe in…_

_Its you,_

_Dear god."_

She turned to walk along the rail just as she finished the song. She couldn't think of another song, so she just kept walking. She wanted to go into town and explore, but she had been told to stay on the ship. And it was too early for Sanji to start cooking. It had become habit for her to sit with him while he cooked, she didn't try to help because she would probably ruin whatever he was doing, but she would sit and talk with him anyway.

She only walked around the ship about twice before she came up with another song, waiting for something to happen.

"_Down in the workshop all the elves were makin' toys_

_For the good Gentile girls and the good Gentile boys_

_When the boss busted in, nearly scared 'em half to death_

_Had a rifle in his hands and cheap whiskey on his breath_

_From his beard to his boots he as covered with ammo_

_Like a big fat drunk disgruntle Yuletide Rambo_

_And he smiled as he said with a twinkle in his eye,_

"_Merry Christmas to all – now you're all gonna die!"_

_The night Santa went crazy_

_The night St. Nick went insane_

_Realized he'd been getting' a raw deal_

_Something finally must have snapped in his brain_

_Well, the workshop is gone now, he decided t bomb it_

_Everywhere you'll find pieced of Cupid and Comet_

_And he tied up his helpers and he held the elves hostage_

_And he ground up poor Rudolph into reindeer sausage_

_He got Dancer and Prancer with an old German Luger_

_And he slashed up Dasher just like Freddy Krueger_

_And he picked up a flamethrower and he barbequed Blitzen_

_And he took a big bite ad said, "It tastes just like chicken!"_

_The night Santa went crazy_

_The night Kris Kringle went nuts_

_Now you can't hardly walk around the North Pole_

_Without steppin' in reindeer guts_

_There's the National Guard and the F.B.I._

_There's a van from the Eyewitness News_

_And helicopters circlin' 'round in the sky_

_And the bullets are fyin', the body count's risin'_

_And everyone's dyin' to know, oh Santa, why?_

_My my my my my my_

_You used to be such a jolly guy_

_Yes, Virginia, now Santa's doin' time_

_In a federal prison for his infamous crime_

_Hey, little friend, now don't you cry no more tears_

_He'll be out with good behavior in 700 more years_

_But now Vixen's in therapy and Donner's still nervous_

_And the elves all got jobs working for the postal service_

_And they say Mrs. Clause, she's on the phone every night_

_With her lawyer negotiating the movie rights_

_They're talkin' bout – the night Santa went crazy_

_The night St. Nicholas flipped_

_Broke his back for some milk and cookies_

_Sounds to me like he was tire of getting' gypped_

_Wo, the night Santa went crazy_

_The night St. Nick went insane_

_Realized he's been getting' a raw deal_

_Something finally must have snapped in his brain_

_Wo, something finally must have snapped in his brain_

_Tell ya, something finally must have snapped… in his brain"_

By the time she was done singing Chopper and Sanji were looking at her strangely, Chopper a little nervously.

"Um… Diane…. Why did you kill Santa?" Sanji asked. Diane turned, noticing them for the first time. She didn't mind having an audience, she just didn't pay any attention to it at all.

"Santa isn't dead, just in prison." She answered blandly. He chuckled at her again.

**This doesn't seem to be going anywhere, so I'm going to leave this chapter there.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own One piece.**

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update this one.**

When Luffy and the others came back later that evening they hadn't actually learned much of anything about Skypia. Most of the people they had asked had either just laughed or told them it was a fairy tale. The only real lead they had gotten was to ask someone on another part of Jaya.

That's where they were going now. Apparently Robin had left sometime while the others were watching her pace and had been told to go to the other side of Jaya to see a man named Cricket. As it was, most of the crew spent the trip trying to repair the damage to the ship, essentially just nailing boards down to cover the holes.

"So, Diane," Sanji started, "anything in particular you'd like to go home to?"

She looked up at him from where she sat trying to help fix the ship.

"Like, back to my world?" she asked a little confused. He nodded. "Not really. I'm not sure I could go back if I wanted to anyway." She answered shrugging.

"Didn't you leave anybody behind?" he asked sitting down near where she was still trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to patch the holes in the ship, "What about your family, friends?" She looked thoughtful for a moment before she answered.

"My family I wasn't too close to. I didn't really have any friends." She answered with another shrug. "Pretty much everyone just thought I was nuts, they probably just figure I ran away again."

"Ran away again?" he asked.

"Yeah, I used to run off all the time. I'd just do different things you know, try and jump trains, hitchhike, once I tried to build a raft and sail away, unfortunately I didn't live near an ocean."

"And this is why they thought you were nuts?" he asked slightly amused. She looked up at him a little surprised.

"No, they thought I was nuts because I built fairy houses in a city park and screwed with anyone who tried to talk to me. I didn't exactly want to be social with the people around there so I made shit up so they would stop bothering me."

"You don't like people?" he asked, surprised and slightly put out by the idea.

"I like people well enough," she said thoughtfully, pausing for a moment in what was really probably making the ship worse off than it was, "But I didn't want to stay where I was, and I didn't want to have anything tying me to that place either." Sanji grinned slightly, encouraged.

"So you don't want to go back?" he asked, almost expectantly.

"Not if I can help it." She answered, going back to nailing boards to the ship.

"But what would you do here?" he questioned her.

"Sail around and catalog plants I guess," she said glancing up at him. "Plants and mushrooms."

"You know a lot about plants?" he asked. She looked thoughtful again for a moment.

"I know a lot about the plants where I come from," she answered. "This place is completely different, I'll probably have to start over to learn about everything here. Even if I find a plant that I think I recognize, I can't assume it's the same thing here."

It wasn't much longer before they arrived at the other side of the island, seeing what looked like a castle from the ship. Impressed, the crew watched expectantly as they came closer to the shore, only to see that it was really only half of a house, with a plywood castle standing on the side facing the sea. It was deserted.


End file.
